My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke

Theodore Roethke’s poem “My Papa’s Waltz” describes an interaction between a boy and his father, presumably a memory of Roethke’s relationship with his own father. There is irony, where the title and the content of the poem massively differ in meaning, which makes the poem brilliant. The virtuosity of the writing comes from the diction, imagery, and irony Roethke uses to describe a seemingly sadistic relationship (and the physical abuse involved) between the father and son under the title of the most elegant of dance. In the first quatrain, Roethke introduces the boy and his father at the start of their waltz, describing the father’s intoxication while the boy is trying to hang on to him. The whiskey that the father indulged in is so strong

Roethke provides the image of a kitchen where “pans/ slid from the … shelf” (Roethke lines 5 and 6). Those pans slid from the shelf because of the father being plastered and boy hitting the walls continually with force, causing the vibrations to knock the pans right off. The mere force can cause the boy to become severely bruised and injured because of falling pans. That is the first sign of the physical abuse caused by the father, although unsuspected by him since he is buzzed. The mother walks in after hearing the commotion and her “countenance/ could not unfrown itself” (Roethke lines 7 and 8). Roethke’s diction in those lines portray the imagery (visually descriptive language) of an angry woman who cannot do anything, to help her son from getting hurt by her husband, but just show her disapproval for their hazardous

In a typical waltz, the two dancers interlock hands. However, in Roethke’s waltz, the father’s hand “held [the boy’s] wrist,” which can be interpreted as the father’s dominance over the boy (Roethke line 9). The father’s hand is also “battered on one knuckle” (Roethke line 10). One knuckle being hurt can be from punching someone or something, which shows that the father is aggressive. The father being plastered leads to loss of balance and missed steps of the dance, consequently causing the boy’s “right ear [to be] scrape[d]” (Roethke line 12). The words that Roethke uses show images of an abusive relationship between the father and